Dianyan Zhong is a guest researcher at the Faculty of Archaeology.

More information about Dianyan Zhong

Research

My research focuses on Roman colonization and the cultures and identities of colonial communities. I explore how colonies developed distinctive forms of “locality” through interactions between local communities, regional dynamics, and the wider framework of Roman dominance. Drawing on approaches to glocalization, connectivity, and local agency, I examine how political reorientation, cultural landscapes, and collective identities were reshaped in different colonial contexts. With these focuses, My PhD dissertation is bringing together case studies from the mid-Republic to the early Empire, with particular attention to Pompeii. During my research stay in Leiden, I am also developing a comparative study of Roman colonies and Han frontier settlements, focusing on massive migration, (quasi-)military organization, land management and social operation in the contexts of imperial expansion and dominance.